3:25 AM BST New Zealand Rugby (NZR) faces a 70 percent decline in revenue in 2020 amid a global shutdown of sport due to the coronavirus, officials said on Thursday. NZR Chief Financial Officer Nicki Nicol said in a video conference the coronavirus had affected all areas of the game in New Zealand. “At NZ
Rugby
12:34 AM BST ESPN staff Incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie remains committed to the job despite the resignation of now former chief executive Raelene Castle. Rennie confirmed he will travel to Australia to begin his Wallabies tenure later this year, and that he remains in dialogue with Rugby Australia officials about exactly when that might
10:22 AM BST England prop Ellis Genge has called for a new, more independent players’ union amid dissatisfaction among fellow professionals about how pay cuts have been handled by clubs and rugby authorities during the coronavirus pandemic. Genge said the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA), founded in 1998, is reluctant to “bite the hand that feeds”
3:27 AM BST Quadriplegic former professional rugby player Ed Jackson has scaled the height of Mount Everest by hauling himself up and down the stairs of his parents’ house and raised more than 41,000 pounds ($US50,647.30) for charity. It took Jackson four days to climb 5,566 flights of stairs with 89,058 steps on one working
5:51 PM BST Agustin Pichot will stand against incumbent Bill Beaumont for the top job in World Rugby. The former Argentina international is determined to introduce change into the game and make it a more global sport. The election results will be announced on May 12. Pichot spoke to ESPN’s Tom Hamilton to discuss his
2:40 PM BST Rohan Janse van Rensburg has been handed a two-week suspension and fined £32,500 after signing playing contracts with two Premiership clubs, Gloucester Rugby and Sale Sharks, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Friday. Sale have also been handed a suspended five-point deduction for illegally approaching the centre and fined £20,000. Van
10:33 AM BST Sam Bruce Close ESPN Associate Editor Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPNscrum after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage. Tom Hamilton Close Senior
9:37 AM BST Rugby has jokingly asked for a second oval on the NRL’s “Fantasy Island” as they plan for a potential July return – more than a month later than their rugby league counterparts. Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle has flagged a July or August kick-off for a domestic Super Rugby alternative and hopes
5:36 AM BST ESPN staff New Zealand may reintroduce a North Island vs. South Island match to the national fixture list as it looks for ways to restart its domestic rugby season. Super Rugby, along with all competitions in New Zealand, has been suspended as part of the measures aimed at curbing the spread of
3:10 AM BST South Africa Rugby will seek to cut spending by 1 billion rand ($US52.95 million) over the next eight months in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has plans for a new domestic competition to replace Super Rugby and the PRO14 on the 2020 calendar. SA Rugby also announced on Tuesday that it